Deception Exposed
by Lady1Venus
Summary: What if Shang found out that Mulan was a woman before the attack with the Huns? Completed for now but status may change


**Deception Exposed**

_AN - don't own Disney's Mulan_

All men were resting in their tents after their swim from the water. No one knew of the immediate dangers that were about to strike. They had their fun and now were settling down for some much needed rest. Mulan did not feel at all tired. After she saw Shang come out of his tent, she felt worried for him. She knew that Chi-fu was a man of his word.

When she knew the men were sleeping and Mushu with Cri-kee at his side, sleeping, she snuck out the tent and headed to the lake. She wanted to have some enjoyment in the water and when Yoa and the others interrupted her, she had to leave. She vowed that she would return before heading to bed.

When she was down by the lake, she quickly stripped her clothes and walked into the water. She needed and wanted to be as quiet as she could be. She didn't want to alarm anyone or wake them up. Especially Mushu. If he were to see her out in the water now, he'd have a freak out.

When she was completely immersed in the water, she began to swim around, allowing the water to relax her muscles. She never knew training was that hard. She thought doing household chores and cooking was hard. Now she understood why women were serving to men. The men would risk their lives for them.

From what happened earlier, she never once lifted her body out of the water. She would swim around, occasionally dipping her head under water.

Suddenly a sound from the other side of the lake interrupted her. She froze, waiting to find out if the sound would go away. When the rustling stopped, she slowly turned and began to swim back to her clothes. But a splash quickly stopped her.

She quickly turned to see what it was. For a few seconds there was nothing but then suddenly a head popped out of the water. She recognized the head as Captain Li Shang's.

She gasped in horror, which Shang heard.

Shang turned. "Who's there?" he demanded.

Mulan crouched her head to below the water and quietly as possible swam to the rock. She hoped this time the rock would protect her. She watched as Shang looked around.

Shang heard a noise though he couldn't figure out what the sound was. He was now starting to get angry. "You better show yourself or you'll wish you never were in this lake."

Mulan started to panic. She had no idea how angry Shang could get but she didn't want to stick around and find out. She began to look around for an exit. Her eyes widened in delight when she saw the lake veer off towards a marsh. She decided that she was going to make cover there. She began to slowly go underwater...

An arm out of nowhere seized her arm. She whipped her head around to see Shang staring at her. Her eyes widened in horror. She didn't hear him swim over to the rock and peer around it.

"Ping? Why didn't you say something?" Shang glanced down. Through the water, he could make out Ping had an arm over 'his' chest. His eyes drifted to above Ping's arm and saw a curve heading down below the water.

Shang's eyes widened. He quickly released Mulan's arm.

For a second, Mulan was confused. She looked in his eyes and saw they were averted. She looked down and saw that her arm was over her chest.

"I can explain," she rushed out.

"You better," he said angrily. "And it better be good. For the punishment..."

"I know the punishment. But please may I cover up?"

He was shocked at his reaction as he nodded. Why should he let this man...woman conceal herself when she was in a whole lot of trouble. No wonder Ping was weak and was pale at the first and had no manly skills.

Mulan swam as fast as she could to her clothes. She took a quick glance back and saw Shang's retreating back. He was heading to get his clothes. When she had her clothes on, she felt like running and never looking back. No. She joined the army to help her father and she was going to take it like a man.

She quietly sat on the riverbank, waiting for Shang. When she heard him approach, she quickly stood.

"Who are you?" he said. "Are you a daughter of Fa Zhou?"

"Yes," she admitted. "My name is Fa Mulan." Mulan could hear the anger in his voice but she was grateful that he would take the time to listen before giving her, her sentence.

"Why?" His simple question was a question of many.

"For my father. My father has already served for the Emperor and in the last war he was wounded badly in the leg. I knew that if father were to come here, you would have sent him home already. He can't fight any more. I watched him."

Shang was pulled off guard by her confession. "You risked a death sentence to prevent your father from joining the war?"

"My father is not war material. He can't walk very well anymore and has a cane to help him move around the farm. Besides what do I got to loose, I already shamed the Fa family name before even coming here.

"Please, don't kill me. I'll do whatever you want," she pleaded quietly.

Shang thought for a minute. He knew what it was like to have a father in the army and he'd be sent off to war. If it hadn't been for his mother, he probably would have gone insane. Then when the day came when he was enrolled in military school. He was overjoyed that he would work beside his father. But it killed when he learned that his mother had died while he was there.

Shang sat down, which Mulan took for her to sit down. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't report you?"

For a moment Mulan thought. She remembered when she first arrived and how immature the men were and from her being there, they were now ready for battle. "Well...I did bring order of the men when I climbed up and retrieved the arrow."

Shang slightly smiled. He remembered how Ping--Mulan climbed up the pole and spent all night climbing to reach the arrow. He was quite amazed that morning when he walked out of his tent, hearing the men cheer. Then to his surprising eyes, an arrow landed in the ground at his feet. He had looked up and there was Ping up on the top of the pole, smirking.

"You did do well in reaching the arrow," he admitted. "And from that, I allowed you to stay."

"If you allow me to live, I'll leave and never look back. No one needs to know that a woman who infiltrated the camp."

"You are not like other women, are you?" he asked.

Mulan was taken aback but his question. "No."

The two went silent. Mulan didn't dare to look at Shang. She was, for one, scared what he'd say if she did. Two, it wasn't right for a woman to look at another man in the eyes unless he spoke to her and three she was scared that she'd be put to death.

Shang sat in silence with the woman beside him. For some reason he didn't feel uncomfortable around her. He quickly glanced at her. He had seen that she was staring at her bare feet.

"Alright," he decided.

At the sound of his voice, Mulan looked up and looked at him. He was looking straight at her.

"I'll let you live." Mulan released a sigh of relief. "And you'll stay."

"Stay?" she questioned as she eyes widened.

"You will remain part of this army as 'Ping'. I will be the only one who knows your secret. However, when this war is over, you will confess everything to the Emperor in private without including me. From there, he will decide your fate."

Mulan's heart snuck low again.

"However, if it happens that I am killed in battle, your secret will be safe and you won't have to go to the Emperor. Do you we have a deal?"

Mulan watched as he brought up his hand towards her to shack. Without hesitation, mainly because she really had no other choice, she grasped his hand, finalizing the deal.

"Good."

------

"My father should have been here," Shang said with sorrow.

"Captain," Chi-Fu said.

Shang walked over to the annoying man and looked to where he pointed. He gasped in horror. All over the ground over a hill were burned tents, blood and soldiers everywhere, and horses partially buried in the snow.

Chein-Po walked up to him with the General's helmet in hand. "The general," he said quietly handing his captain the general's helmet.

"Father," Shang whispered. He turned and walked way from his men. He walked over an untouched spot in the snow. He crumpled to his knees as tears slowly fell from his eyes.

Mulan tentatively walked over to him. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she bent down to him.

"You don't understand," he whispered to the woman. He raised his head allowing her see his tears. "Actually you do understand. You disguised yourself as a man to protect your father from this.

"I guess you could say that. I want to let you grief but we have a problem on our hands."

"Yes, you're right. I knew the risks of warfare and so did my father. The Huns are on their way to the Emperor. We have to stop them, if it's not too late." He turned back taking a nearby sword and stabbing it into the ground. He then took his father's helmet and placed it over top of the sword.

Shang rose from his knees and placed a gentle hand on Mulan's shoulder. "You have more guts than most of these men. You've risked your life to protect your father and you've just given me motivation to continue where my father failed but died with honor. Thank you Fa Ping, Mulan." He looked at her hands and saw that she had a little doll in her hands. He felt sad for the little girl who owned the doll.

He moved away from Mulan and mounted his horse. "We must continue before the Huns reach the Imperial City."

-------

As Mulan left the Emperor's castle, she smiled. Her secret was revealed when Shun Yu cut her and Shang still kept her alive. When Shang had her sword and looked like he was about to strike, she had a feeling that he wouldn't. He already knew who she was. But he had to protect himself and she knew that was the best way to protect her.

When she had seen the Huns pop out of the snow, she had to warn Shang, but didn't he want to believe her. Or at least she was lead to believe that and he it really surprised her when he joined her to help save the Emperor. It was a completely strange as she saved him and then he turned around and saved her again.

Now she had honor returned to her family. She saved China and she knew that her name would go down in history. Maybe now, things would change for women. She hadn't made it far out of the city when a voice called her name from behind her. She stopped and turned to see a white Imperial Stallion approach at top speed.

She smiled as she recognized the rider.

"Shang," she said as he neared and slowed to a stop.

"Mind if I ride with you?" he asked.

"I'm confused as to why?"

"I'll explain later."

She saw something in his eyes but couldn't quite describe it. She silently nodded and the two began to walk towards the pass, which was the quickest way to get back to her village.

"Well I guess our deal didn't go through," he said.

"Wha...Oh...Right. Yeah," she stuttered. "I'm just glad that I'm still alive and honor has been brought back to the Fa Family."

"I never did have the chance to ask how you shamed your family."

Mulan lowered her head to hide her embarrassment. "The Matchmaker."

"What would she have to do with it?"

"I'm too out going and the Matchmaker saw that. And her exact words, which still hurts were 'you may look a like a bride but you'll never bring your family honor'. I embarrassed her and from that she humiliated me in front of my mother, grandmother and the whole village." A single tear slipped down her face.

"Well she's wrong." Mulan looked up at Shang with surprise. "She said you'd never give your family honor. Well I think joining the army and saving China has just made her eat her words."

Mulan thought for a moment, and then chuckled. "You're right. She did. I wonder what she'll say when I get back home. I'm sure the news will travel fast."

"Well if it don't, I'm sure it will when you arrive."

"How far are you going? I thought you probably lived in city."

"I do," he said. He noticed that she was about to question. He wanted to evade her question. "Let's set camp here. It's getting too dark."

"Sure," she said. She pulled the rains, making Khan stop.

She jumped off and began to set up. She rolled her mat on to the ground, and then placing her blanket. Her small pillow was the last to be set down. When she was done, she turned and saw that Shang wasn't around. His horse was beside Khan but there was no sight of him.

She heard some rustling in the bushes and jumped. She whipped her head, expecting maybe to see a Hun but to her surprise it was Shang.

Shang walked out of the bushes with a deer in his hands. "I figured you are hungry since I am so I found a meal for us."

"I don't know how to cook deer," she said simply.

"You don't need to cook. You are the hero of China."

Mulan smiled. She was starting to like this hero thing but she knew not to let it get to her head. Once she'd return home, it would be back to cooking, cleaning, and other house chores. She watched Shang walk over to a far spot to skin the animal.

She shrugged her shoulders and began to look for small twigs for kindling to start a fire. One thing she liked being in the army was the survival skills. They had taught her how to build a fire. Once the fire started, she started to look around for some branches. She knew it wasn't a good idea to work around a fire with a dress on but she did anyway.

"You didn't have to do that," Shang said as he came up behind her.

"I may be the hero of China but I can't ignore my duties as a woman or knowledge from being in the army."

"True. But be careful, many women have burned to death from being too close to an opened fire."

"I know. My Great Grandmother died that way. Her death left my Great Grandfather and father lonely. Not long afterwards though, Great Grandfather found a new wife to care for his son and look after the farm."

"My mother died the same way," he said sadly.

Mulan turned. "I'm sorry. You've just lost your father and you have no mother."

"My father died with honor. My mother didn't." Shang moved away, sadness started to consume him. He went back over to the remains of the deer. He found two large sticks. Using them as poles, he shoved them into either end of the deer.

"Mulan could I get your help," Shang said.

"Sure." She walked over and silently picked up one of the poles.

He had the other and they walked over to the fire. With hard force, they grounded the sticks into the ground, allowing the fire to cook the deer. Shang looked at Mulan and saw that she was no longer wearing her dress. She had on the pants and tunic that was worn under her uniform.

"I feel better now that you not wearing a dress," he said.

"How did your mother die?" she asked.

Shang turned his head. "It happened five years ago. Not long after I joined military school. There was a bad thunderstorm and mother was afraid of thunderstorms. She was in the middle of tending the fire and she heard the thunder. She jumped and the flames caught her dress. A neighbor heard her scream and came to see what happened...It...was too late."

"I'm so sorry," Mulan said. She felt tears well up in her eyes and would not let them fall. "Now you have no one." But she quickly covered her mouth for being insensitive.

Shang shook his head and smirked. "It's ok. I had a friend who helped me through a bad time. By telling me the truth about who they were and it showed me that people are willing to risk their lives for the sake of their father."

Mulan bowed her head as a slight blush started to creep into her cheeks. She didn't think he would think of her as a friend after learning that she was a woman and her secret was revealed by Chi-Fu.

He walked over to her and she raised her head to look into his face.

"You are the nicest woman I've ever met," he complimented. He saw that she started to turn her head. He quickly brought his hand up to her chin, stopping her from turning.

She stared into his eyes, trying to figure what he was doing. She thought maybe looking into his eyes might help but it didn't. All she could see in them was dark pools that revealed a feeling that she never saw before.

Before she could try to ask or move away, his head bent down. Her eyes widened just as his lips lightly touched hers for a brief touch. He moved a bit back to see what her reaction would be.

She just stood there, frozen in place. On their own accord, her hand rose up and touched his face. He took the invitation and leaned in, placing his lips on hers again, placing a little more pressure than the last.

He lingered a little while longer, not wanting to scare her, then moved away. But she quickly twined her fingers into his hair at the nape of his neck, pulling his closer to hers.

To keep himself from falling, he wrapped his arms around her waist, knowing he would pull her even closer. Their lips mashed together as the kiss became stronger and longer. Slight moans whispered between the two and before things would go too far, Shang pulled back.

Once his lips left hers, she almost protested but held her tongue. He slowly unwrapped his arms around her and moved away from her to tend to their meal. No words were passed between them. She was too speechless to say anything and he was satisfied enough that he was finally able kiss her.

He had been wanting to kiss her ever since she saved the Emperor. But he knew it wasn't the appropriate time as Mulan could still get the death penalty for lying and her deceit. He was quite surprised when she was given the complete opposite. It had lightened his heart when the Emperor announced that he wanted to hire her as part of his councilmen. But then hearing Chi-Fu say there was no positions left, made his blood boil.

He smiled at the memory of when the Emperor turned around and said that she could have Chi-Fu's job and the scrawny man fainted. But then his heart felt heavy when she declined the offer.

But right after she left, and the Emperor gave him permission to pursue her, his heart leaped right into his throat. After everyone started to leave the palace, Shang quickly found his stallion, leapt on him and rode as fast as possible before Mulan was too far ahead. He was going after her to tell her how he felt.

When he did catch up to her, and she asked why he was going with her, he didn't know what to say. He didn't want to come out and say that he wanted to see her and perhaps court her to have her as his wife.

When Mulan finally found her voice, she walked up to Shang and bent down. "Why?" she whispered.

He turned to look at her. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked. He knew what she was asking.

Mulan shook her head in confusion. "Today has been a very confusing day. I'm still too overwhelmed that I saved the Emperor and in the process, China. The Emperor offered me a job and I declined and then he turned and gave my family back their honor."

Shang nodded, understanding her confusion. "Why do think I kissed you?"

"I...I'm at a loss for words," she admitted.

Shang grasped her small hands and stood. With them both standing, he moved away from the fire. "You've been through so much but yet so little. You now know what war is but haven't a clue when it comes to feelings."

Mulan frowned, as she was a little offended by his words. But before she could say anything, he placed a finger to her lips.

"Maybe this might clear a few things up." His arms snaked around her waist once again and pulled her close to his chest. She didn't have time to so much as pipe a word before his lips claimed hers again in a searing kiss.

At first she didn't respond, but within moments she started to respond. She didn't know what she was feeling but knew that he wouldn't hurt her. Everything they were doing was new to her but she didn't care.

Her arms draped over his shoulders, giving him more access. His mouth parted her lips and she took a quick breath in as she felt his tongue. In that moment she finally realized what he was telling her.

He slowly moved away from her lips, working his lips up her cheek and started to nibble on her earlobe. Mulan's legs started to tremble and no longer could hold her weight. Her body was rested up against his as his lips continued their assault on her ear.

"I think," he whispered in her ear, still nibbling. "You now have your answer. You are so beautiful and I wanted to let you know."

Mulan's head tilted back a bit, forcing him to stop his nibbling. He looked into her eyes as she spoke again. "You asked me how far I was going and I never answered. You also asked me why I wanted to ride with you."

Mulan slowly nodded that she remembered she asked those questions.

"Well both of those answers have just been answered. I wanted to ride with you, because I didn't want you to leave. And as to how far I'm going...I don't know. Depends on you."

"W...why me?" she stuttered.

Shang took a deep breath. "When the time comes...I..." He couldn't get the words out. "What I'm trying to say...Oh heck."

He noticed that she had the strength back in her legs. He released her and bent down, holding her hands. "Marry me," he stated bluntly.

Mulan gasped in shock. He wanted to marry her? He liked her? A lot? "I...I...ah..."

Shang stood again, placing a finger to her lips. "You don't need to answer now. Just listen. When you left the palace, the Emperor came up to me and told that I could go after you. It surprised me but he gave me permission to see you and maybe start a family with you.

"I will wait, if need be, until you're ready. Of course it's tradition to ask the father first for their daughter's hand in marriage but I wanted you to understand why I kissed you."

He moved away from her and tended to the meal. He found the meat was cooked. He brought out his knife and began to slice some meat for him and Mulan. They ate in silence and soon went to bed. Mulan had a hard time getting to sleep. Too overwhelmed of the days events and it was topped off to Shang's proposal. He loved her. Well it didn't say that he did but she knew he did.

They became good friends after her exposure in the water at the camp. Of course she became friends with most of the men but more so with Ling, Chein-Po, and Yoa and of course Shang. When she did fall asleep, her dreams were nothing but of Shang.

Mushu and Cri-kee kept to themselves as the two talked. Mushu was quite surprised that the captain was bold enough to outright kiss her. When he did see him kiss her, he was about to break it up but Cri-kee grabbed his tail and held him back.

Mushu's mouth dropped when the captain asked to her marry him without seeking permission first but after a few minutes of allowing the two words to sink in, he knew Mulan would be in good hands if they were to marry.

Through out the night, Mushu kept a watchful on Mulan and her former captain to make sure nothing would happen. Deep in his mind he wanted Mulan to marry the handsome captain, Captain Li-Shang.

When morning came, Mushu woke Mulan up as he seen Shang get up and start breakfast. When breakfast was complete, the two packed up their belongings, climbed on their horses and started off towards her home.

_(A short story that I have been wanting to do for a long, long time but had lost interest and then when I got back to see what the fic was about, I had forgotten. I even had a page written but couldn't remember how it was going to go. I did remember that Shang discovered her secret while still at camp but couldn't remember how. So I scrapped the original idea and started again. I believe this version came out better than what was originally planned. There may be a continuation of how her parents react to everything that had happened. So I hope this didn't end in a cliffhanger of sort. I don't think it did. I've found many stories, of different categories, end in a similar manner where the fans would come up with their own ideas of how it continues. Ah heck, just look how the movie ended..._

"_Would you like to stay for dinner?" Mulan_

"_Would you like to stay forever?" Grandma_

"_Dinner would be great." Shang_

_Then Mulan walks up to Mushu and kisses his head, then the elder ancestor hollered Mushu's name. _

_There have been many movies, in which ended in similar ways where it could continue and never did. _

_If this does continue, it will be another short story all together. And it would deal with more romance but no villains. Unless you want to think the Matchmaker as one. Don't know if she would play a role, though I think she should. If I continue what do you think?)_


End file.
